Speckled
| intro ---- Rain and thunder may be a generic beginning to stories, but it is the start of this one. It was dark, reader, oh so dark. Clouds the color of ashy moonlight scudded across the sky, leaving nary a trickle of moonlight to alight upon the sand. The savanna surrounding Vinegaroon Hive was barren and silent. Well, for the most part. A crack echoed loudly from near the Hive, one that would have scared you dreadfully, reader. And a dragonet appeared, silhouetted by a crack of lightning. Over his shoulder, he wore... a contraption, reader, one unidentifiable by both you and me. The best way to describe it would be a "satchel", minus the heat lamp and the faint light it emitted. The dragonet bounded past tussocks of grass until he was in the open, and knelt down before reaching into the satchel. He pulled out a tiny bird, reader, a sparrow with ruffled feathers and a disgruntled expression. It ducked its head from the sheets of rain, but the dragonet took no notice. "Fly," he whispered gleefully, raising the sparrow into the air. "Be free!" It stared at him with beady eyes, and he stared right back. And the bird took off into the pouring rain. Dear reader, Speckled may not look like much, but never judge a book by its cover. For he cares more deeply for others than he does for himself. For he's braver and more compassionate than most of the world surrounding him. Reader, even though he may not be changing the world, he's the hero in his own story. And isn't that all that matters? | appearance ---- Round features, bright eyes, huge billowing wings. Even in the midst of a crowd of HiveWings, Speckled is the kind of dragonet you'd find even with just a momentary glance. He has a heavyset build, his body firm and sturdy. Most of the time, it makes him look muscular and strong, but if one were to look closer they'd find out that he's mostly pudge, not power. Usually Speckled stands while bouncing up and down, or twitching his tail excitedly - the term "still" doesn't seem to be in his vocabulary. Speckled is quite short for his age, standing a good head shorter than most of the other dragonets in his classes. He's considerably weaker in physical activities compared to them too, but he doesn't let that stop him. His boundless reserves of energy are shown by his constant fidgeting and love of flying. His frame is mostly MudWing, and he has the square features of one. However, some parts of him are more SilkWing - his snout, for example, narrows at the end into a slender shape, and the end of his tail is elegantly thin. And, of course, his four wings are round and in the shape of a butterfly's. His scales play with light in an interesting way, catching it and turning it into soft smoky shapes on the surface of his body. If he's in the right setting, they look like smudges of bright pastel floating on top of his dark coloring. This gives him, overall, a very gentle demeanor, and the constant smile on his face only reinforces this impression. However, this effect is usually undermined by the fact that Speckled is always, eternally dirty. On any given day, you'd find that dust and dirt fleck his scales, a result of how much time he spends running around and exploring outside of the Hive - much to his mother's disapproval. Speckled has deep brown mainscales with undercurrents of amber that are brought out when he stands in direct sunlight. His underscales are creamy white with hints of dusty gray, a stark contrast with the rest of his body. Dark brown overscales run down his spine and plate his wings, so dark that they look black at first sight. The spines running down his back are the same color, while the tops of his legs are a slightly lighter shade. The horns sprouting from the top of Speckled's head and the smaller ones protruding from his wings are pale tawny brown, and exceedingly shiny. In fact, the light reflecting off them tend to make them the brightest parts of his body, and have the tendency to blind unfortunate dragons looking in his direction at the wrong time. Speckled's wings, though, are probably the oddest part of him. They're uncommonly large, rather thin, and fragile, looking like they could tear with the slightest breath of wind. Despite this, though, they are decidedly not translucent. In fact, they're the same color as his underscales: creamy white, and sprinkled with tiny coffee-colored scales all over. The ends of Speckled's wings are colored with a shade of dusky black, which transitions to rich brown towards the very edges in a seamless gradient. Dark doe brown eyes pull in any dragon who look, always dancing with excitement or sparkling with mischief. Often he sports a worn satchel, draped around his shoulders. Overall, it's easy to say that Speckled is slightly underwhelming. His dusty scales and odd build, though, are nothing compared to what lies within him. | personality ---- When surrounded by unfamiliar dragons, and in a new environment, most dragons would quiet down and look around. They'd probably mingle a little bit, but not too much, of course - testing the waters is important, figuring out what to do and how to do it is essential. Speckled is not that type of dragon. "Extroverted" would probably be the best word to describe him. The small dragonet is perpetually talkative and friendly to anyone he meets, able to get almost anyone to crack a smile. He's quite good at conversating and is quick with his tongue, uncannily skilled at knowing exactly what to say. Compassion is his hidden strength, empathy his greatest weapon. Feelings are a language to him, and one that he speaks well. To Speckled, friends are essential to a happy life, and going an hour without talking would seem like absolute torture for him. Despite his upbeatness, he can come off as clingy sometimes, tagging along with other dragons just for the sake of company. He trusts and gives trust easily, but his problem is that he expects others to do the same, and is often crestfallen when they don't open up immediately. Often Speckled could be considered the life of the party, the loudest voice in the crowd, the one who deserves a spotlight on him 24/7. He cares less about the heat of the moment, though, than forming deep bonds with the dragons around him. Speckled is an optimist through and through, viewing the world as a complex web where everything is tied together with emotions and love. One of his biggest flaws, though, stems from his biggest strength. Speckled is paralyzingly sensitive and hurt by the smallest things, which often annoys others speaking with him. Under stress or criticism, it's common for Speckled to experience bursts of emotion that take many different forms from shouting to crying. He has a tendency to overthink things, sometimes losing sleep over "why they did it" and "what to do about it." Imagination is a big part of Speckled's character: he has an ability to craft fantastical ideas within the blink of an eye. He naturally thinks out of the box, sometimes even too far out, to the point of impracticality. Besides that, though, Speckled is very open-minded and willing to consider the ideas that others suggest. He's also very curious and loves to explore new things, but sometimes his inquisitiveness gets him in trouble. Unfortunately, the time he spends socializing and creating is often needed for real-world, practical affairs. Speckled isn't skilled at real-world things - like time management and following through on projects - and finds it difficult to focus on one thing for a long time. This has led to Speckled carrying on a multitude of things at the same time, never able to choose one to stick with. When bonding with others, Speckled throws himself into the chaos headfirst. He either trusts completely or not at all, but he dedicates himself to his loved ones and is constantly bringing them little tidbits or small gifts. Cheerful and supportive, Speckled could be considered the ideal friend - and even though he's often jealous on the inside, he's good at hiding it. He has difficulties making decisions on the spot, often standing there for a while and finally blurting out an "I'm not sure. Can I sleep on it?" He also shies away from conflict, whether physical or emotional, preferring to stay in a more peaceful environment. Of "fight or flight", Speckled falls squarely into the "flight" category, because of his tendency to run away from problems instead of actually dealing with them. Leadership is not a word in Speckled's vocabulary - when working in groups, he prefers to fade into the crowd, offering ideas instead of organizing them. He's known as spineless to some HiveWings, due to the fact that he'd bend over backwards to accommodate even a stranger's needs. Speckled would do anything that anyone tells him to do, making him somewhat of a doormat and incredibly naive. The quality that Speckled truly personifies is caring. Whether it's a dragon, animal, or even plant in need of something, expect the little dragonet to take them under his wing. Speckled literally cannot resist helping others, and hates to see anyone in pain. He's a gentle dragonet, never picking a fight, never taking part in arguments, simply because he doesn't like it. Underneath the surface, though, Speckled is conflicted. He wants to fit in, to feel accepted and loved and out of the spotlight... but at the same time he wants to stand out, to be more than himself and everybody else and embrace his oddness. Perhaps that paradox is what led to where he is today - a hero in the background. A savior in the shadows. | history ---- It's easy to see that Speckled isn't a normal Pantalan, of course. His odd features and heavy build mark him as such. However, whenever someone questions him about his heritage, they never expect a careless shrug and an "I don't know." It's true, he really does know nothing about his roots; Speckled considers himself a SilkWing and will call himself one. Where he truly came from, though, is too peculiar for most dragons to comprehend. Speckled's mother was a young adult when she first found him. Erebia was a student, struggling through university courses and grappling with mistreatment as a SilkWing. One day she took a walk outside of the Hive and found... a dragon, unlike any of the tribes she knew, washed up and passed out on the edge of the shoreline. Silently she observed him, this proud, deep brown dragon with a muscular body and heavyset build. She took in his outlandish scale patterns and single pair of wings and... well, everything. Erebia couldn't make heads or tails of this dragon; everything about him was incredibly different from what she knew. She stayed there for most of the afternoon, studying the dragon with a keen eye. Until he woke up. The dragon burst to his feet, coughed out what must have been gallons of water, and glanced wildly around, calling for someone named "Anhinga". Erebia tried to soothe him, and eventually his panicked eyes fixated on the pretty dragon standing right in front of him. She managed to coax his name out of him: Catfish. And that was all she got before his eyes rolled back and he crumpled onto the sand again. Their love was slow to blossom, but Erebia could feel herself falling deeper into Catfish's charm every day. He had hidden himself in a sinkhole near the coast as he waited to recuperate from the shock and an injury on his leg. She visited him as often as she could, bringing him news and teaching him about the outside world. Erebia's fieriness and Catfish's tranquility made them a perfect match, and before they knew it, there was an egg. A tiny round thing, very small and sickly, but its mahogany color mixed with reddish swirls and the constant warmth it emanated made Erebia and Catfish fall in love with it at first glance. The latter took good care of it while Erebia traveled back and forth between her home and her love - none of her relatives knew about this relationship, and she told Catfish that "they could never know". Wasp would have Catfish killed, stuffed, and put on display if she ever found out about him. While waiting for the dragonet to arrive, Catfish taught Erebia about his homeland, a foreign place he called "Pyrrhia". Erebia was fascinated by the tales he told, of ice dragons and water dragons and even rainforest dragons. Time passed this way, and as the months ticked by, Erebia's relatives began to notice how she snuck off for hours at a time every day. She had a falling out with them, and she moved out. And when the egg hatched, Erebia and Catfish were awestruck by the miniscule dragonet that emerged. Although small, he was a beautiful combination of their traits, and the sleepy smile on his face made them fall head over heels for their new son. The parents showered Speckled with gifts and adoration, but they soon came to the conclusion that he would have to go with one or the other. So Erebia snuck Speckled back into the Hive, claiming she found him wandering the savanna alone. And the citizens accepted that. Erebia was incredibly busy with Speckled, so she was unable to visit Catfish for a while. When she finally returned to meet him after a few months, she found him dead. Collapsed on the ground with a stalactite that had fallen and pierced his chest. Heartbroken, she returned to her son and vowed to take care of him - Catfish would have wanted the best for him... and because she couldn't bear to lose anyone else. Surprisingly, Speckled grew up fairly normally. Of course, he did endure some teasing about his appearance, but his easygoing nature made those insults roll right off his shoulders. Right from the start, he proved himself to be a caring and kind dragonet, always trying to help others even if his efforts were futile. When he started school, though, he had a lot of trouble with academics, and was quickly diagnosed with dyslexia. His grades were always low, but he didn't care much. For he had a much greater passion than school: wildlife. And more specifically, birds. Speckled's first memory is walking home through the rain and hearing a weak chirping just off the path. He dashed toward the noise, and upon locating its source, he found nothing but a pink baby bird, shaking from the cold and curled up tightly underneath a bush. A quick glance around revealed that the mother was nowhere to be seen, and a burst of pity flashed through his heart for the small orphaned creature. Without hesitating, he scooped up the bird and carried it carefully home. Over the next few weeks, Speckled nursed the bird back to health by feeding and nurturing it every moment he could. Eventually it sprouted beautiful brown feathers and began hopping around in its birdcage, trying to fly away every once in a while. Speckled made the hard decision of letting it go, and although he cried as he watched it fly away, he cried with a smile on his face. As time passed, Speckled began venturing further and further away from the Hive in search of birds to help. He'd bring them home and help them recuperate, then release them into their natural habitat. His mother disapproved of his constant sneaking away, but he begged her earnestly to let him continue, and Erebia finally gave in. He loved saving birds so much that Erebia couldn't bear to take that away. Speckled's biggest triumph came when he was six years old. An article appeared in the local newspaper about him. Well, it wasn't exactly a front-page story - it was on the sixteenth page, bordered by an ad for a wind chime shop and an interview with the elementary school sports teacher. And it didn't actually mention him by name - the writer didn't even know that it was his doing. Nonetheless, it felt like a victory to read the words on the page about how the population of the local swallowtail had skyrocketed, "possibly from dragon aid". Now, Speckled is nine years old. He's been saving birds for five years, and although nobody knows it's him, he takes great pride in what he does. If somebody else found out, they'd most likely say that this job is pointless - it's not doing much, it's not helping dragons themselves, even that birds aren't worth his time. But he believes differently. Speckled calls himself an activist, a helper. And deep down, he might even be a hero. | relationships ---- Erebia: Speckled's relationship with his mother goes beyond words. For as long as he can remember, Erebia has always been there protecting and caring for him, doing the best she could no matter the situation they were in. Erebia would do anything for Speckled, and the opposite is true as well. Granted, they do fight from time to time, but they always make up and reforge their relationship stronger than ever. Overall, nothing will ever separate Speckled from his mother, and they love each other with all their hearts. Classmates: Ironically, most of Speckled's classmates avoid him. It's not that they dislike him, per se, but his odd looks and the way he comes off as clingy often steer them away. At school, you could probably spot him trying to talk to one of the dragonets in his grade, and the latter trying to push him away politely. This does put him off quite a bit when it comes to trying to make friends, and whenever he gets rejected, he feels a little less sure about himself. However, Speckled has a few close companions, and with them, he can truly be himself. Teachers: Honestly? Speckled doesn't like most of them. Many of his HiveWing instructors seem to be very condescending and talk down to their students, which he hates. In addition, he thinks of them as biased, due to the fact that they seem to favor some student over others. Speckled is, obviously, not in that elite group. (He might be slightly biased himself, though - school is not his cup of tea.) The only teacher he truly likes is an old SilkWing called Madam Metalmark, and her art class is the only period he actually enjoys. Gossamer: Speckled and Gossamer, Gossamer and Speckled. He's so close to this SilkWing that their names are practically interchangeable. Right from the first day of school, the energetic female dragonet caught Speckled's eye, and within a matter of days, they became best friends. The two are basically inseparable, doing everything together and hanging out whenever they can. Out of Speckled's small friend group, Gossamer is by far the closest one. Black-eye: Speckled's friendship with Black-eye is slightly... rocky. The two of them argue somewhat frequently, due to Black-eye's tendency to blurt out whatever he's thinking and Speckled's trait of getting offended by almost anything. When they're not fighting or declaring their estrangement from the other, though, the pair is fiercely loyal to each other and would do practically anything for their friendship. Satyr: Spotted by Speckled a few years ago sitting in the back of the classroom, he took an instant liking to her. Before she knew it, she had been adopted by Speckled, and he now invited her to wherever he went. Although she hasn't quite come out of her shell yet, she feels free to be herself around the gang, which is mostly Speckled's doing. Despite her quietness and awkwardness, Speckled befriended her, and he's not planning on ever doing the opposite. Honeybee: Generally Speckled feels negatively toward HiveWings, but Honeybee is an exception. He stumbled upon this quiet introvert in the crowds of schoolchildren recently, and the two had an instant connection. They struck up a conversation almost immediately, and that morphed quickly into a friendship. They're not as intimate as Speckled would like, they're getting to know each other better by the day. And Speckled may or may not be developing a crush on Honeybee as that happens. HiveWings: Many dragons of this tribe look down upon Speckled, a small dragonet whom they see as ragged and unruly. In school, the teachers and the students alike generally don't treat Speckled very well, some of them teasing him to the point of tears and others sliding pointed insults beneath their words to him. He tries to keep a positive outlook and to stay open-minded toward them, but every one he meets seems to prove his hopes wrong. SilkWings: Since Speckled believes he's from this tribe, he feels fairly well toward SilkWings. He always tries to strike up conversations with dragons of this tribe that he passes on the streets or stumbles upon by chance, and he's usually successful. Speckled holds SilkWings significantly higher than HiveWings, since their pacifistic nature is one he can get along with easily. Most of his friends hail from this tribe. | trivia ---- *fidgets a lot *sees showering as a waste of water *collects shed feathers from the birds he rescued *gets really shy around important figures *flares his wings when excited *enjoys eating sweets a bit too much *named for the flecks on his wings *the master of procrastination *"collects" trivia *a vegetarian through and through *wants a pet rabbit desperately *goofs around in class a lot *doesn't like accepting help from others *doodles when bored *super forgetful Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Hybrids Category:MudWings Category:SilkWings Category:LGBT+ Category:Occupation (Student) Category:Content (Stardust the IceWing-RainWing)